Death Penalty

FIDH is against the death sentence, regardless of the crime or circumstances, and together with its member organisations is striving for its universal abolition. Capital punishment equals to inhumane treatment and torture. FIDH has furthermore shown that the death penalty is usually a sentence given at the end of an unfair trial and is carried out according to terms that are often discriminatory. Lastly, FIDH recalls that the so-called deterrent effect of the death penalty has never been proven. The last resolution of the United Nation General Assembly calling for a universal moratorium on the death penalty was adopted by 117 countries in December 2014 and confirms the growing international momentum in favour of universal abolition.

More than two-thirds of the countries in the world have abolished capital punishment in its laws or practices. FIDH therefore calls for: the abolition of the death penalty for all crimes; the establishment of a moratorium on executions; the universal ratification of treaties providing for abolition, including the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

FIDH is a founding member of the Worldwide Coalition against the Death Penalty.